Boston's Catholic parishes see decline in membership, with some alienated by beliefs
BOSTON - Boston's Catholic parishes are seeing a significant decline in membership, an alarming trend in one of the most Catholic cities in America.
"I have distinct memories of being 4, 5 years old, praying each night before going to bed, you know, what if my life was slightly different?" said Madeline Marlett of Dignity Boston. She's a transgender woman, who was homeschooled as a child with a conservative Catholic curriculum.
"To be LGBT mean you were ill or disordered," said Marlett. She's still devoted to the church, leading Catholic LGBTQ+ youth at Dignity Boston.
But not everyone in Boston has stayed committed to the religion that raised them.
"I grew up in Boston and grew up Catholic," said Kate Weldon LeBlanc. She's the executive director of Resolve New England, a resource for families facing infertility, like she did. "It is or should be there for you at the best times of your life and the hardest times of your life."
Weldon LeBlanc and her family considered surrogacy but thanks to in vitro fertilization, her daughter Sophie was born.
"How could my church not be happy for us?" said Weldon LeBlanc.
What's making people leave the church?
She's referring to recent comments from Pope Francis, who called surrogacy "despicable," calling for a global ban. And despite allowing priests to bless same-sex marriages, stopping short of formal unions, the pope said marriage is "a union between a man and a woman."
"He's changing things but is it enough?" said professor Francis Xavier Clooney, a Jesuit priest in Boston and a professor of divinity and comparative theology at Harvard.
For centuries, Catholic churches have been the beating heart of Boston. Places to find quiet and form community. Now, according to a new poll from the PEW Research Center, only 30% of Boston adults identify as Catholic. That's down 20% since 2000 across the United States, according to the Catholic News Agency.
"[In Boston}, maybe 40%, due to various things, particularly the sex abuse scandal, COVID hit, anger at statements from the Vatican," said Clooney.
Those statements could ostracize those who called the Catholic church home. According to the CDC, nearly 20% of women experience fertility issues. And in Boston, more than 8% of adults identify as LGBTQ+.
"Yes, the church would love everyone to be back," said Clooney. "The very idea that everyone will come back and that the churches will be crowded is not going to happen."
When asked if he struggles with being a Catholic priest, Clooney said, "I've been a priest for 45 years now. And I think it's a great blessing, but I think like every other intelligent Catholic, there would be things that the church stands for and things the church says that I'm not, in fact, happy with."
Clooney admits Boston is growing apart from its conservative Catholic roots but is committed to Catholic teachings.
"It's actually good that the church has some standards and some values. If the church simply said we agree with everything the larger culture says, I think that would be a mistake because there's a lot of problems with American culture."
Clooney was asked if it's such a high standard to celebrate love and he responded, "What I meant to say was that there should be serious listening to the church and then do the best you can at living out the faith, even if that means living it in a way that may not be acceptable to everybody in the church."
The Boston Archdiocese declined to sit down with WBZ TV to discuss the teachings of the Vatican. It did send a statement:
"The Archdiocese of Boston professes and believes the teachings of the Church as laid out in the Magisterium and as instructed by Pope Francis. We support the Holy Father in helping all Catholics on their faith journey. The Church teaches us that every person is important, every person matters, and every life is a gift from God. Pope Francis urges us to meet every person with love and mercy.
In terms of priestly vocations, we are constantly seeking to identify and educate men interested in dedicating their lives to the priesthood. Often, it is the example of our priests in the parish that is the real inspiration for vocations. When a young man observes the impact of our priests and young women are exposed to religious women who are joyful, prayerful, and dedicated to serving others, come forward on their own to explore vocations.
In addition, there are increased roles for lay Catholics to serve in their parishes and the broader church. Priests, religious women and engaged lay Catholics all play an important role in establishing and growing vibrant parish communities."
In the meantime, hopeful Catholics like Marlett will continue to cheer for the church she loves and wait for it to love her back.
"It does cause pain, people will continue to feel left out and excluded but in this moment now, it is our church," said Marlett.